Net neutrality complaints logged as FCC prepares to overturn the Open Internet Order

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released more than 13,000 pages of net neutrality complaints filed by consumers against their internet service providers, reports Ars Technica. “But the big document release came just one day before the deadline for the public to comment on FCC chairman Ajit Pai's proposal to repeal the net neutrality rules.” The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) filed a Freedom of Information Act request in May in an attempt to get all of the net neutrality complaints received by the FCC since the rules took effect in 2015. The group also sought details on the resolution of each complaint, including ISPs’ responses to each consumer. The NHMC wanted at least 60 days to conduct a full analysis of all complaints before the deadline to submit comments on Pai's proposal to dismantle the net neutrality rules. Other advocacy groups also requested an 8 week comment deadline extension, but the FCC granted only a 2 week extension, and the revised deadline passed on 30 August 2017. Pai's Restoring Internet Freedom plan has drawn more than 22 million public comments, though most are from form letters and many are spam. There were more than 1.5 million “personalised” comments, with about 98.5% opposing Pai's proposal to repeal the rules, an analysis found. Pai's proposal to overturn the net neutrality rules argued that there were only isolated examples of harm to consumers that would justify the FCC's prohibitions on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritisation. http://bit.ly/2j0FORs